Normally, I'm sad to see the regular season end. This year is a different story. Let's cheer on our M.A.S.H. unit to a hopeful victory to give us a shot at the division title, while at the same time pull for them to end this nightmare of a last week on a high note. Either way, the playoffs reset everything. So let's get to that as soon as possible.

Quote:

RED WINGS (38-28-15) at BLUES (52-22-7)

TV: NBCSN, TSN

Last 10: Detroit 5-4-1; St. Louis 4-6-0

Season series: This is the final matchup between the Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues, who are in different conferences after being longtime rivals in the Central Division. The Blues won 4-1 at Joe Louis Arena on Jan. 20.

Big story: St. Louis is banged up and in a tailspin heading into the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Blues have lost five straight games and need at least a point to have a chance to pass the Colorado Avalanche for first place in the Central Division. Each team has 111 points, but the Avalanche own the tiebreaker going into Sunday. The Avalanche finish their season on the road Sunday evening against the Anaheim Ducks.

Detroit was assured of the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference when the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Florida Panthers 3-2 on Saturday

Team Scope:

Red Wings: Detroit's main goal is heading into its 23rd straight playoff appearance on a high note. It won't be easy because the Blues have ample motivation.

"It's always a tough matchup for us every time we play them, regardless of who's in and who's not for each team," Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall said, according to MLive.com. "It's always a very tight game, pretty physical and of course they want to be feeling good going into the playoffs as well."

Forward Daniel Alfredsson (sore back) will not play Sunday, but he'll be ready for Detroit's first-round series against the Boston Bruins. Joakim Andersson will play in Alfredsson's spot at right wing on the third line. Center David Legwand didn't practice Saturday but is expected to play Sunday.

Blues: St. Louis is trying to keep a positive outlook, but things couldn't be much worse heading into the postseason. In addition to the five-game skid, they're besieged with injured forwards.

Patrik Berglund became the seventh regular forward to leave the lineup Friday after an apparent shoulder injury knocked him out of a 3-0 loss at the Dallas Stars. Forward Sergey Andronov was recalled Saturday from the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League as a reinforcement.

"Anybody that can play is playing; anybody that can't isn't," Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said of the season finale, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "We're playing that game to win and that's going to be our attitude."

Their playoff scenario breaks down simply. If the Blues win the Central, they will face the Minnesota Wild in the Western Conference First Round. A second-place finish sets up a first-round series against the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks.

Who's hot: Red Wings rookie center Riley Sheahan has scored goals in back-to-back games, and rookie forward Tomas Jurco has three goals and one assist in his past six contests. ... Blues forward Jaden Schwartz has scored two goals in the past four games.

Wow 82nd game...went by fast for me. Here's hoping were playing in June!

No joke. 6 more weeks until I get back to the States- we better still be playing by then!

How do we play an Eastern Conference team in our final game of the regular season? Yeah it's Detroit (and I still hate them), but still- shouldn't Game #82 be against a Division rival?

Just freaking win. 2 points, please.

Did they make the schedule before the re-alignment was made official? That's the only way it makes sense because we should be losing to Chicago or Colorado today, not Detroit.

I don't think the schedule was made before realignment because realignment changed how many times Detroit played everybody. Agree that it doesn't make sense though. Chicago/Colorado (probably Chicago) would have been the obvious choices IMO.

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How would you like to sell season tickets for the St. Louis Blues? "So we flamed out again, the team is a tire fire, we haven't won anything in years, and oh, by the way, ticket prices went up in all categories to make up for the Miller/Ott debacle. Sign here, please." I'd rather try to get people I love to start selling Amway. At least you get soap out of that deal.

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dhabums wrote:

You and your buddies here are a joke and most of this site knows it.

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I'm not sure this is remotely fair, but Hitch will probably have to be out with a first-round loss, or maybe even a second. You have to be able to sell something resembling tickets for next year. It's not his fault that all of these injuries have happened, or that the Ott/Miller trade has been such a colossal failure, but he's the easiest thing to change, and he hasn't won a thing.

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dhabums wrote:

You and your buddies here are a joke and most of this site knows it.

Sponsor of Having A Real Good Time, Happy Pony, and all those who suffer from being right all the time.

_________________“It makes no difference what men think of war, said the judge. War endures. As well ask men what they think of stone. War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner. That is the way it was and will be. That way and not some other way.”

There's no just confidence or swagger to our guys at all anymore. They're playing hard but it's just a cluster at this point. Guys running into each other on the ice, a lot of times we look confused...

I saw one really good shift from Cracknell's line there in the middle third period where we kept the puck in for a really long time but other than flashes...

We just battle and battle and NOTHING is going in and then the Red Wings (or Stars, or whoever) march down the ice and bury one. It's just maddening and frustrating. This game isn't Miller's fault and he made two great stops on two breakaways.

I'm out of answers. It obviously doesn't help when half of your team is injured but my God... just a total collapse to end the season. Unreal.

And why did we dress Rattie? Burned up a year of his three year entry contract by dressing him the last two (largely meaningless) games of the regular season? WHY? We did the same thing with Schwartz two years ago and he'd have a whole additional year on the cheap if we hadn't done that. Stupid.

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